ou are standing in an open field, shoulder to shoulder with your regiment. The British line is 50 yards away. They slowly raise their muskets and aim directly at you and your comrades. The thunder of the volley is deafening, the choking smoke stinks of sulphur. Hundreds of pieces of lead whistle as they pass over your head, by your side, and into your ranks. Men fall all around you, dead and wounded. Confusion, fear, and chaos set in. You can not understand your officers' commands in the confusion. You and the other survivors of the volley reform to return the fire to the enemy.

Out of this kind of chaos, soldiers of the Continental Army forged a victory over professional British and German soldiers near Saratoga, New York. The two battles fought here in autumn of 1777 changed the course of the American Revolution and insured the independence of the former British colonies that became the United States of America.